William Butler Yeats 1865 - 1939

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• William Butler Yeats 1865 - 1939

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Nobel Literature Prize in 1923

• Together with Lady Gregory he founded the Irish
  Theatre, which was to become the Abbey Theatre,
  and served as its chief playwright until the
  movement was joined by John Synge.
• His plays usually treat Irish legends they also
  reflect his fascination with mysticism and
  spiritualism. The Countess Cathleen (1892), The
  Land of Heart's Desire (1894), Cathleen ni
  Houlihan (1902), The King's Threshold (1904), and
  Deirdre (1907) are among the best known.

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Yeats poetry

• Yeats's poetry can be seen as consisting of three
• phases
• Early
• Middle
• Late

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Early poetry

• In Yeats's early poetry, up to the volume In the
  Seven Woods (1904)
• We can see the influences of English Romanticism,
  the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Symbolism
• Two further influences were the occult and the
  world of the Celtic twilight poets of the 1890s

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English Romanticism
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Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
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Symbolism
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Yeats goals

• Yeats saw himself as writing for Ireland and out
  of an Irish poetic tradition
• However, his Ireland is the shadowy world of
  Celtic legend, rather than a contemporary reality
  
• "The Song of Wandering Aengus" captures the
  essence of Yeats's early poetry

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Celtic Legend
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Middle period poetry

• Yeats's middle period poetry can be read in the
  volumes from The Green Helmet (1910) to Michael
  Robartes and the Dancer (1921)
• Subject matter and attitude change
• Love is dealt with in a more direct, questioning
  manner
• Yeats still writes about Ireland, but it has
  become a real Ireland parts of which irritate or
  puzzle him by their complexity

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Puzzling Ireland
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Middle period development

• He now writes about real events, such as the
  death of Robert Gregory and real people (Lady
  Gregory) and real places (Coole Park)
• With these changes comes a noticeable change in
  style from the meditative rhythms of the earlier
  verse to the more muscular rhythms and tighter
  syntax of this middle period
• We can hear this new distinctive voice in the two
  poems
• "No Second Troy" and "Easter 1916"

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Final phase

• The final phase of Yeats's poetry begins with
  "The Tower" (1928)
• Yeats constructs himself as a very self-conscious
  bard in poems like "The Tower" and "Sailing to
  Byzantium"

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Into old age

• He publicly celebrates Ireland's culture which he
  sees living in Coole Park and Lady Gregory and
  which for him become a symbol of a nostalgically
  remembered Anglo-Irish superiority
• He contemplates old age and its difficulties, and
  meditates on the function of art in life

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Final poetic phase

• Yeats was also an Irish Senator, reflected in the
  poem
• "Among School Children
• and "Sailing to Byzantium
• They can serve as examples of verse from the last
  phase of Yeats's poetry

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• Thank you for your attention
• Any questions?